Total Motorcycle Community Forums

Just wondering who here has had some experience with the 80's nighthawks.

Are they pretty relaible? How do they ride? how is the parts availability both OEM and aftermarket.

I am considering one of these as a first bike. I have sat one a 650 at a used bike dealer and found it to be the best fitting bike for me so far.

Go for the '83 or newer 650 or the '84 and newer 750. There is a BIG difference from previous versions. The motors were still peaky however and the 650 I had felt like it had a hinge in the midlle. Overall they were pretty solid bikes for the era....

The 700SC was a fabulous bike, and still is if you can find one without a million miles on it. and has been somewhat maintained.

I have found an 85 650SC locally for $1875, and an 86 700SC down in denver for 2k. Not sure on mileage on either of em.

Was intending to purchase over the winter in any case so Im probably going to pass up on these for now. This winter I am going to start getting my gear together and look for a bike, and try to get into an MSF course (this years MSF courses were booked for the entire year back in may).

Also have the thing of needing to shop for 2 bikes as my wife also wants to get one. She has the issue of being rather short (5'4" but short inseam) and a bit on the heavy side. She also hasn't decided what style of bike she wants, and as so far only been able to flatfoot cruisers.

The (several) 700SC's I knew of and rode popped out of 2nd gear a lot, otherwise a great bike.

Hey I'm looking at the same bikes for my first.

what is concidered high miles for a motorcycle???

there is a '83 650 here with 45/k mi. (Ave: 2100mi./year)

Mad Puppy wrote:Hey I'm looking at the same bikes for my first.

what is concidered high miles for a motorcycle???

there is a '83 650 here with 45/k mi. (Ave: 2100mi./year)

To a certain extent, the more miles the better...meaning, it's better that the bike was used (and likely maintained) rather than left sitting in a barn somewhere with bad gas and a ruptured battery. With 2100 miles per year it sounds like it may have sat for a brief stint, or it was used just often enough to stay fresh. I managed to put over 10,000 miles on my bike in the first year, so it's not likely to be road-worthy 22 years from now.

I have a '85 Nighthawk 650 at the mo. Can't complain, it's a solid bike with fair handling, fairly comfortable, sounds a lot faster than it is, cruises nicely at 60 mph with a reasonable mpg return, spirited riding or two up and it can drain that small tank quickly, the shaft drive is nice (84 & 85 models).

Make sure the oil filter bolt hasn't been over torqued. That can be a costly fix.

I've had no problems with parts....but then I haven't needed many.

Im still lookin. they are not the easiest bikes to find